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- (No Model.) a Sheets-Sheet 1. I 'S FLOATING DRY 1300 ,No; 256,608; Patented Apr. 18,1882.

(No Model.) f -3 sheets-sheet 2.

H L. 0. WATTS. v Y

FLOATING DRY DOCK.

(NOM o d el.) 8 3Sheets -Sheet 3.

- I L. G. WATTS.

FLOATING DRY BOOK.

818,25 08. Patented Apr. 18,1882.

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SPECIFIoATIQN ta in part Of'iettei's:1a.tent No. 256,608, the April 18, 1382.

Application filed July E1881. (his model.) 1 l l Tacit-whom it n'iay concern: i Be it known that I, LIFE 0. WATTS, f the cityiand'county of San Francisco, and State of California, have invented an Improvement in Floating. Dry-Docks; and I do hereby declare the following-to be a full, clear, and exact desoriptionthereofi' My invention relates to a floatingdry-dock,

the object, of which is to couvenientlyraisevessels out ofthe water when necessary.

It consists i'n'ga large liftingdock or float the whole bottom. of which i's'an air-ehamberr Ithas upright sides divided into compartments designed for holding water to sink the dock. r5 Between the upright sides is a wide channel or space large-euoughto receive avessel. A smaller float or-ponton provided with appropriate devices for receiving and sustaining the vessel is adapted to be sunk upon the large doclh'andthe vessel is' hauled in upon this pon- I to'n.- Thelarge dock isadapted to be raisedo'r. sunk in vertical ways or guides and between two wharves. on which are supported wateratanks provided with gates, from which the upright compartments of the large deck are filled 'with water, and sunk to the required depth. These compartments are provided with gates operated from above, which, when opened, al-

low the escape of the water and the consequent lightening and raising of the large deck, together with the small ponton, from which the water is allowed to escape, and the, vessel. Eihere are minor points of construction which are required 'for the operation efthe device. These, with the full and complete description, will-' now follow. Referring to the accoin 'ianying drawings, Figure 1 shows a view of water-tanks and lifting-doci: in position. Fig. 2 shows a view of the ponton. Fig. 3 shows a. cross-section of lifting-docks,-tanks,and ponton. Figdshows slitting-dock. Figifjshowsenlarged cross-section ofv lifting-dock and tank. Let A A represent two wharves, separatedas shown, and between thennat' t eir corners," are'the vertical ways or 'guidesfi; Y

Let 0 represent a large lifting'ilock or float.-

in the water, set betweeuthe wharves and fit: 1 ted within the verticai guides B. The-whole 5*: bottom of thedoclc is entirely closed and forms ma ed-chamber, l), which is permanent, and. I

gives to' the dock its bnio gancy. The dock has 7 fu'pright hollow sides seams are divided byvertical, longitudinal,"-*and transverse bulkheads, into a nu inberot'conipartments, (marked a,) the bottoms of which areinclined down wardly toward the outside. These compart- ,ments are designed to contain water. 0n the inside of these sides E are pivoted knees U; adapted to" be parallel with the "sides and against them, and to swing out atright angie's therewith.

F F represent gates ateach'endof the dock. They are adaptedto be opend -from above. Braces l, pivoted to the deck of the-float and adaptedto be raised against the gates F 1*, support them and prevent them from being pressed'in by the water.

At the bottom of the water spaces or compartments a. in the outer walls of the sides are openings 0,Wl llClL tIf covered by gatesG, lined with'mibber, slidihg' 'up and down in guidefianges on the insidegsothat the press'ot water will forceiltem-out against the openingsc and hold thenbftight. These gates are operated by verticlrodsl, attached. to their tops and extending npwardly on-the inside through the top. {See-Fig. 5.) They are there p rovid-- ed with teeth, {marked (1,) thus forming a rack,

and with tlic-n jengagegpinions 0 upon ashaft,

H, which is supported above.

I is a vertical-opemting eranlewhcel carryingi-a ibeusl-gearwwheel, f, which meshcs gith a bevel-piuion, g, upon the shaft H; lllhris by turning, the wheel I all the gates ated at once.

Gimp" oper- H may be adapted to be thrownin gear with one of the pinions-c, and then hold'thc gates in whatever position desired.

I can have as' many compartments a as desirable, andgbyproperly connecting them by openings at the bottom I cnndividcthe p,into

sets ibrrcceiving' the \Vfl'iClfRlMl thus reduce the number of gates and openings, so that I may have any suitable unlit-her of gates or hollow, and is provided with gates it oh its adapted to be raised or io-wcred in thesame manner'as the gates G. holes Z on top to allow the escape of the air when the ponton is sinking.

Upon top of the ponton are appropriate keel and bilge blocks m, to receive and hold the vessel. Attached to its sides are upright supports a, to the inner sides of which are hinged arms tr, in which a central socket provided'with screw threads is made. These sockcts receive the adjusting-rods a, which are screwed therein and are known as shores.

' They are provided with cross-levers a. Their object is to adjust and steady the vessel against the wind and tide until it rests upon the keel and bilge blocks on the ponton. They are adjusted by means of the levers .r, and press against and support the vessel.

Upon the sides of the dock U are fastened elbow-joints K, which pass through the-walls and open into the compartments a within. To these elbows are. screwed shells 0, into which til; the smaller shells y, to which the pipes L are screwed. These pipes extend upward- 1y above the tops of the sides E, and are provided with large heads or followers 1), which have packing around their peripheries. The

- purpose of this construction will be fully seen appropriate clutch mechanism should be pro-' vided to throw each row ofrods i n and out otgcar when necessary. Each gatcis thus adapted to be raised independently of the others. These openings q communicate with vertical pipes N on the outside of the tanks. These pipes N are-supported from the sides of the tank, and are large enough in diameter to fit over the wide head or follower p of the inside pipes L. The tanks .M and the deck 0 are connected by having the pipes N fit over the pipes L.

There-must be an allowance made for the side and end movement of the floating-dock U, and for this purpose the pipes L have a loose ball-joint below, as described, and being so much smallerthan the pipes N, they can move therein without bending. Their large followers, with the packing, make the joint between the two pipes water-tight, and yet allow the vertical play of the pipes L in moving up or down with the dock. operation of the invention will fully-explain these matters.

Thelittingdoek may be supposed to be floating well up in the water between the wharves, its air-chamber 1) below giving it buoyancy. Its pipes L are fitted in the pipes N of the side tanks, which are supported on the wharves and are extended up withih said pipes. The

It has small I A description of the gates G of the dock are closed, and there s no water in the compartments a. i The gates r of the tanks M are closed, and water is pumped up into the tanks until they are full. The ponton J is floating ott' to one side. I openthe upper row of gates rin the tanks M, and allow the water to [low out into the pipes N and down through the pipes L into the compartments a of the dock. As they fill with water the dock settles down between its guides 13, and when the pipes L are low enough I open the second row of gates r,.and the water continues to passthrough. This continues until the water in the compartments has settled the dock down to a depth snfticient to tloat the ponton J upon it. The ponton J is then floated in between the sides of the dock and the knees U are moved around to press open top of the ponton to secure it to the dock, and its gates k are opened. The dock is then sunk lowerdown. The air escapes through the holes lot' the ponton, and the water flows in, and the ponton and dock settle down together to the depth required to receive the vessel. The vessel is then hauled in and titted upon the heel and bilge blocks of the ponton and adjusted by means of the side shores, 'n. I now open the {rates (it olilhe dock U, and the water in the compartments a flows out and lightens up the. dock, so that its air-chamber 1) causes it to hit up, hearing with it the ponton and vessel. When raised so that the bottom of the ponton is level with the water and the water has ilowed out its gates are closed,

KOO

water is let out 01 the tanks into the dock to lower it slightly and the ponton, with the vessel upon it, is floated out. It' the vessel is very large and heavy, thegatesh may be kept closed and the water from the ponton allowed to llow out into the dock, from whence it may be pumped out, thus lightening the dock enough to raise the vessel. This, however, is necessary only in the ease of very heavy vessels.

The advantage of having a separate float or ponton, J, is that when one vessel is raised by the dock O the ponton with the vessel can be floated oit' and another ponton brought in to receive another vessel without. delay. This could not be done if the vessel lay upon the dock itself, and it she required three weeks repair others would have to wait; but by my invention the pontons maybe as numerous as desirable, and the vessels raised without delay and each removed to he attended to.

The amount of water necessary to sink the dock, the degree of buoyancy necessary for the pontons to sustaint-he vessel, and thedepth to which they have to be settled are all wet ters of experience and depend upon circumstances. By this arrangement; of gates the dock may be settled to any required depth or its rise checked where desired. Nowsuppose a vessel drawing very deep water requires to be raised, it may be that the pipes L are not ion 5.: enough to allow the dock to be settled the required depth without parting with the pipes N. To adjust this matter I haves second series of joints communicating with the compartments a, situated higher up and marked P. These joints are constructed as shown. They 5 consist of an elbow-joint, K, to which is secured the shell ,0, and into which is fitted a smaller shell, 3 to which is' screwed the S- shaped joint 2. The pipes L are screwed into these joints 2. By this construction the ballto joint is preserved for the purposeexplained, and the joints 2 may he turned out of the way to avoid the pipes when secured to the elbows below. Suitable braces vmaybe arranged to support the elbows. When the dock has been 5 settled as far as it can be with the pipes L attached to the lower joints the fiowof water may be stopped and the pipes L removed and secured to the upper row,-l, thus giving to the dock a further fall down to the required depth. In raising itthe pipes-L may be transferred again. When not in use the elbows K are closed with caps. As before described, the side or end niovementof .the lifting-dock is provided for by the ball-joint in the pipes L, and by the wide heads thereof and the large pipes N, wherebythe pipes L will not be bent or strained by the side or end movement of the dock. lam aware thatlifting-docks have been used 3:: into the bottoms of'whieh water is allowed to enter to settle them and then pumped out to raise them. I do not claim such-5 but What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is--- 1 5 1. In a floating-dry-dock, provided with the hinged brackets U. and --Z, the lifting-power of which is a dock adapted to be sunkand raised,

the hollow ponton or iloatJ, with its side gates,

7:, adapted to be sunk upon the lifting-dock and to receive the vessel upon itself, substantially 0 as and for the uses andpurpose herein described.

2. The floatingulry-dock G, in combination with the ponton J, having side gates, k, and keel and bilge-blocks m, designed to receive a h vessel, the'side shores,'n, supported by thepp' rights u, and rendered adjustable by means of a the hinged arms to, into which they screw, sub-' stantially as andt'o'r the purpose herein dc scribed. 5o I 3. In combination with the lifting-dock G, p with its air-chamber Dand upright eompartments at and openings 0, the loosejointed inner pipes, L, outer pipes, N, and Watertanks M,

with their openingsq and slidin g gates r, when arrangedsubstantially as and for the purpose herein described.

"4;. In a floating dry doek having a liftingdock adapted to-be sunk or raised, and water- I I tanks connected with said lifting-dock for tilling it with water, the outerconnectingrpipes, N, attached to the tanks and in open connection therewitlnand theinnerpipes,L,attached to thelifting-dock and in open connection there 'with, and adapted to have a vertical play ,iii'dg the pipes N, and a side and end pltiyby means of the ball-jointO, and the widetoll-owerp, with its packing, when arranged substantially-as and for the purpose herein described. I I In witness whercof'l have herenntoset my 7 hand.

7 LIFE 0. WATTS.

Witnesses:

S. H. Nounsn, 'J. H. BLOOD. 

